★ 10 / 10
Great movie, very inspiring. The story needed to
itsogs
Great movie, very inspiring. The story needed to be told and the actors did a great job in all of their respective parts. Highly recommended for all ages. ?????
Great movie, very inspiring. The story needed to be told and the actors did a great job in all of their respective parts. Highly recommended for all ages. ?????
Touching, but a bit clumsy...
softpineswhisperinthebreeze
The premise of this movie is pretty disturbing. A teenage girl's mother is dating a man who has been renting her out for other men to abuse. As if that weren't…
The premise of this movie is pretty disturbing. A teenage girl's mother is dating a man who has been renting her out for other men to abuse. As if that weren't bad enough, her mother is fully aware of the situation. She's just too drunk (by her own hand and by her boyfriend's coaxing) to be of any help to her daughter.The situation begins to change when a teenage boy who goes to school with her notices that something's wrong. After some strange behavior on her part and the boy being taken aside by a teacher, the situation becomes clear. The girl is then taken away from her mother and placed in a group home, and shortly after, she ends up joining the equine therapy program.(All of this is largely written out in summaries and is evident within the first few minutes, so nothing is being given away here.)The depiction of the group home and the equine therapy program are both very realistic. Wounded teenagers, sometimes inappropriate, sometimes tender and caring, sometimes just trying to be kids, are shown as they try to recover from their own individual versions of Hell. While childhood sexual abuse isn't everyone's issue, it's a common denominator for many characters. The movie walks a line in terms of how much detail to depict and describe, perfectly choosing just enough so that the viewer can understand the severity and empathize, but not so much that the viewer ends up wounded by the experience, and in licking their own wounds, neglects to take in the experience of the characters on screen. The diversity of their experiences are rich, showing that these issues occur in many different family situations, that pain is a very individual thing, and that everyone has a story which is often hidden at first glance.I was impressed with how the movie used its limited time. The situations that characters were shown in were never wasted. Every scene gave some depth to one character or another and none of them seemed wasted or superficial. (There are very few movies, particularly these days, that I could say that about.) In addition, a lot of serious issues were addressed - substance abuse, childhood sexual abuse, trust issues, trafficking minors, how humans and animals both deal with trauma, and how the system (the state) and community play a part in discouraging or encouraging these issues.In all honesty, I'd give this movie an 8.5 if it weren't for a single line that felt so out of place that I actually shouted: "What?!" - then ended up rewinding the film just to see if I heard it wrong. It was like watching The Silence of the Lambs and seeing Hannibal Lecter pause for a moment to muse on how cute fluffy bunny rabbits are. I don't know why they added that line in. The notes about the film say that they had some issues with filming. Maybe there were other scenes cut or this was a last-minute addition. That could explain things, because it really did seem like an afterthought.I won't give away the line, so as not to spoil things for anyone. I will say that it was around 1:44:30 (at the end of the film). You may not take it the same way I did. But, for me, it really threw a wrench in the gears.Even with that issue, I'd still recommend the film (though with the warning to not be surprised if a line seems out of place). It is a really good film up until that point. If you can ignore that line or if you take it in a different way, you may even come out enjoying it more than I do.As a final note, Jean Gotzon (one of the cast members) has been in a few other movies with religious overtones (one of them had terrible reviews, accusing the film of religious homophobia). This film mentioned religion once or twice, but it wasn't really a theme, if you're concerned about it.
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★ 1 / 10
Terrible
tiffaniswallace
This movie was terrible. I don't understand how people liked the movie. There were numerous plot issues. #1 Kenny. Kenny is a high school student and a minor.…
This movie was terrible. I don't understand how people liked the movie. There were numerous plot issues.
#1 Kenny. Kenny is a high school student and a minor. However Kenny works with the 1 police officer in town to go get Sarah help, get Sarah in the treatment center, and help the 1 officer find his daughter. Question, where is Kenny's parents?
#2 Karen. Um, why is Karen not arrested? This woman let her boyfriend sell her daughter as a prostitute under her own roof in own house! Like what? And we're made to believe it's because she was drunk? Back up to the beginning though when Sarah was trying to leave the house, Roger stopped her from leaving and was discussing in the kitchen with Karen that he needed to take Sarah with him just one more time. Then when she got back from bring sold she had a boxed gift for her that Sarah didn't want understandably. So the mother knew what was going on, yet she did not call the police, she did not try to escape, she did not try to get her daughter sent somewhere else, she did nothing. She was an accomplice and with the money he got from abusing these kids, she took his gifts. His dirty gifts tainted with pain and abuse of innocent children. Yet, at the end of the movie she is said to protect her daughter! That is a lie! She needs to be arrested, parental rights terminated and never allowed to have contact with her kid again and go on the sex offender list! She was a terrible mother! A good mother would lay her life down to protect her child. She didn't even confront him for what he did.
3. Sarah. This girl has been sold as a prostitute and we're made to believe the girl is made better by riding a horse? Really. That is some deep psychological scars that needs way more than a horse.
That's all I'm saying. This movie sucked.
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100%
AUDIENCE
6.1/10
150
